Double-row cultivator



May 8, 1923 7 1,454,120 A. S. K'RCTZ I DOUBLE ROW CULTIVATOR Filed. May 9, 191's 5 Sheets-Sheet 1' May 8, 1923- A. 5. KROTZ nouama now 'cumtvuroa Filed May 9, 1918, 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ma s, 1923- V 1,454,120

A. S. KROTZ DOUBLE ROW CULTIVA'I'OR Filed May 9, 191B 4 5 Sheeis-Shet 4 I me stares;

Patented May.8,1923. it

' ALVARO s. KROTZ, or aanns'vrrtnwlsoonsin, ns'sienon, By Mnsne' AssieNMENrsQ "TO-GENERAL IVIQTOBS CORPORATION, A CORPORATION Fpe;r.l wma;y

" nouBLn-now CULTIVATOB.

Application filed May 9;

T 0 all whom-it ma y conce m t Be it known that I, ALVARO- "citizen of the United States of America,

and resident, of J anesville, Wisconsim) have invented a certain new and useful Improve ment in Double-Row vCultivators, of which thefollowing is aspecification. 1 f

The invention relates to cultivators .in general, but more (particularly to those which are known as ridingcultivators, be-.-. ing providedwith wheels to support the frame which carries the cultivator gangs,

" and with a pole or tonguefora team-of:

horses, so that the machine may be pulled across the field, to cultivate the corn, or

other thingsusually planted in rows, and

. having means whereby the driver may con- ,1 trol the machine and shift the gangs laterally to insure cultivation of the field of corn, or other vegetation, in the proper or desired manner. Some cultivators of 'thls.

general character are constructed for the purpose of cultivating one row at a time, being ordinarily known as ,singlen ow culztivators, whereas other .cultivators of this general class are larger and are constructed for the purpose o f cultlvating two rows atj' a time, and are known-as double-row cul-.

tivators. The invention, more. specifically considered, relatesto double-row cultiva-,

u tors, of this general .class.

. The object of the invention," generally stated, is to provide a novel and improved construction whereby the cultivator-gangs may be shifted or controlled by. the swinging seat-rail, and [whereby the individual gang-arches are each controllable independently of the seatj-raih andwhereby pendulums are advantageously employed to support the weight of. the driver in the seat on the seat-rail. so that the machine may be steered to the right or left, and

whereby the, gang archesmay be controlled S. "K no'rz, a

other useful ends the indrawings inwh'i'ch'.-.

F1g..1.is a plan of a mg machine, or two-row cultivatoras they).

ciples; of the invention.

are sometimes called, embodyingthe;p'rin'-' Fig. 2 is a front: elevation of saidicultir vatlng machine, showing; the two 'poles-or;

tongues in cross section.

Fig. 3 isa-sid at 'o -t esald tivating machine,showing-the near. wheeh 5 i Fig. 4 is a' view"similarfto Fi .1 b i" removed.

diagrammatic in character, and -il lustrating 7' the control exerclsed'over the wheels and the gang arches by. the ,seat r'a'i'lfwhichi is 9 pivotedfto swing laterally LbOIltQa verticali axis pmvlded by the i t th near the center of the body-frame,

Fig. 5 is. an enlarged detailsectionalh W I Ig one of: the. pivotal connec-fi' ig. 6 is an enlargeddetailsectional view tion s.

on line 6-6 in Fig. Fig.7 "5 astill further sectional i chine.

view. y thus sa a detail v e of certa n parts of th m 5 1 g F 8 is also anenlariged sectional 1 illustrated, the invention. cornprises. a body-frame -cornprising. a4 trans v 1 i verse member 1 to which the-poles or tongues l 2 vare. rigidly;v connected" by oblique,b'races h b g tor'wardl converging:- pair o of thesevbraces for: each pole or tongue, (se i Figs. .1 and 4), the twopoles p t b ing suitably spaced-apart}: The wheels. 4:;

vertical portionst held inswivel bearin'gs' the latter. being rigidly connected 7y are carried onlspindles -o, which latter-2h clamping devices 8' with-the outer ends of the transverse frame-bar 1, so thatthis bar and the two wheel spindles formja sort of flat arch which is disposed a suitablef'distance from the ground, sand whereby gale:

" twowheels may swing about the vertical axes to steer the machine to the right or to;

the left F For this purpose, forwardlyena} I tending, arms :9 are. rigidlvv secured .to-thefl, wheel sp1ndles,by means ofthe splitclamp-if 1 ing devices l O whichlare removably clamped-Y upon the curved lowerlportions of the spin}.

dles; Th e forwardflend f tithes? arms I are connected together by a transverse bar- 11, the latter having its ends pivoted upon the ends of the arms 9, whereby the parallel motion connection is provided which the wheels about their individual steering axes, so that the machine will be steered to the right or to the left.

With the construction shown, the cult1' vator gangs 15 are four in number, being arranged in pairs so that one pair is atone cultivating machine.

side of the seat and the other pairat the other side thereof, said gangs being all arrangedbetween the two wheels 4- of the 16 are disposed in line with and below the rear ends of the tongues 2, the out-turned.

or horizontal lower end portions of these arches being provided with long sleeves 17 .upon which are adjustably mounted the 'clamping collars 18 which are providedon the forward ends of the cultivator-gangs. In this way the forward endsof the cultivator-gangsare adjustable laterally on the sleeves 17 and when tightly secured in place on said sleeves the gangs are adapted to tilt upward at the rear ends, inasmuch the sleeves 17 rotate on the horizontal portions of the gang-arches. By means of the adjustable collars 18 the distance between the gangs of each arch can be changed or varied, in order to suit the requirements of different kinds of work, or different conditions. The outer ends of the gang-arches are connected by pendulum-rods'19 with the ears 20 on the castings or clamps 8, which are a part ofthe rigid body-frame, whereby the pendulumrods 19 are adapted to swing sidewiseat their lower ends to permit lateral shifting of the cultivator-gangs, and so that these pendulum-rods serve asbraces to resist the .pull of the gangs while working in the ground. The body-frame also has. a forward cross-bar 21 which is rigidly secured at 22 to the oblique bars 3 and at 23 to the rear ends of. the tongues. Vertically disposed'pendulummods 24 are pivoted at 25 on the end portions of the bar 21, so that 7 these pendulum rods swing laterally at their lower ends, and the lower ends of these rods are pivoted in ears 26 on collars 27 secured to the outer ends of the gang-arches, these collars being also provided with ears 28 for the lower ends of the inclined pendulumrods 1 9 previously described The trans verse upper portions ofthe gang-arches 16 are providedywith castings" or brackets 29 The two gang arches having means for loosely engaging the cross-' bar 11, and with pivoted links 30 which have their other ends pivoted at 81. on-1the"segment 32, which latter is pivotedat 14- to be turned about a vertical axis. This segment is provided with holes 33 for the locking pin or'bolt 34-, which latter," is inserted down-- ward through a hole in the bar 11, sothat the segment 32 can be locked in any rotated or adjusted portionthereof. segment 32 is rotated'in one directionthe gang-arches 16 will be pulled towards each other to reduce the distance between them, but when the segment 32 is rotated in'the opposite direction the two gang arches'will" be moved away from each other, thus increa'sing'the distance between thetw'o pairsbf cultivator gangs, whereby the machine em be adjusted for rows of corn, for example, which are a certain distance apart in some cases and a greater or less distance apart in When other cases. -As previously explained, the

gangs 15 can swing up and down, but'd'o not swing. sidewise,,andvconsequently the shifting of the bar 11, when the seat is swung to either side by the driver, will cause the gang arches 16 to be shiftedv sidewise bodily, and

this will shift the gangs themselves bodily sidewise, as shown in-Fig. 4. i 5 i The forward end of the seat-rail 13 vided wlth a depending hook 35 upon which is fulcrumed a transverse bar 36, and the end portions of this bar are provided with holes is pro 37 to receive the upperfends of the pendulum rods38, which latter have their lower ends connected tothe ears 39 on'the previously mentioned collars 27, so that the upper ends of these rods turnabout parallel longitudinal axeswhile the lower'ends of'said" rods provide a, common transverse axisof relative movement.

Thus theseat is maintained at the desired height and prevented i from tilting downward by the upwardp'ull of the forward end portion of the seat-rail 13 upon the rods 38,'and this upward pull'on the rods 38 is resisted, of course, by the rods '19 and 24, so that the latter serve also to hold the forward end of the" seat-rail down in position and to'sustain the weight to one side and pull the gang-arches 16 with them, so that the lateral shifting of these gang-arches is causedin some measure by the swerving or side pull of the rods 38, which are some distance in advance of'the bar 11, as well as by the-endwise shifting movement of this bar 11 throughits pivotalconnection 14 with the seat-rail. i

To raise and lower the cultivator a square shaft 40 is mounted transversely on the body-frame, 1n bearings 11, in such amanner that the shaft can rotate. The

toothed segment fl 2is rigid with, the eat-i9, bar 1, and its hand-lewe'r 4:3 is rigid "with the of the driver in the seat. Also, when theseat 1 a rail is swung laterally,'the rods 38 swerve.

vice 44, of the kind ordinarily employed on hand-levers, for. engaging the. teeth of the segment or curved rack. In this'way the shaft 40 is normally locked against rotation.

The hand-levers 45, however, are pivoted at" 46 upon the curved racks or segments 47 which are fitted on the shaft 40, so that these'rackson said'shaft must'rota'te in unison when the shaft is rotated." Bods 48 connect'the lower ends of the hand-levers with their respective cultivator gangs, and these hand-levers have locking devices 49 toi engage their respective racks or segments, 15' i and with this arrangement, any hand lever 45, when released from its allotted rack or segment 47, can be employed for raising and lowering its allotted cultivator gang. On-

the other hand, when the hand-lever .43 is releasedfrom itsrack 42, this hand-levercan then be employed for rocking the shaft 40,

and this will rock all'of the segments 47, and therefore all of the hand-levers 45, with the result that all of the connecting rods 48 will be operated to raise or lower all of the gangs inunison." Thus the different culti vator-gaings can be raised and lowered indi-v vidually, or in pairs, orall of them. atthe same time, It will be understood that any,

suitable draft devicescan be applied to the tongues 2, which latter are in the nature of parallel poles extending forward ahead of the machine, to which the horses are con-.

nected for pulling the machine forward across the field. It will also be seen that a 3 spring 50ris connected between the bar 21. and a downwardly extending arm 51 on the shaft 40, so thatwhen this shaft'40 is rotated to'raise all of the gangs at the same.

timenthe spring 50 will assist in so doing. Tt will be understood. thatythe raising and lowering hand-lever devicesthus provided are adjustable laterally (in any suitable known or approved-manner) on the square shaft 40. so that the distance between these.

hand-leversma'v be changed or varied-in accordance with the distance between the cultivator-gangs- And with further respect to this lateral adjustability of the cultivatorgangs, the transverse frame-bar 21 is preferably'provided with holes 52 for; the adjustment of the upper ends ofthe hanger-rods 24. so that the upper ends of the rods can be'changed fromone-hole tothe other when the-distance between the cultivator-gangs is changed.

Tn practice. it will be understood that driver occupiesitheseat in position to place his feet in the stirrups 53 on the rear ends I of the two inside cultivator-gangs. By pushin with his .foot in either direction the seat will be swervedlaterally inthe other; direction. And this willshift the, cultivator Igangs 15 toward one of the wheels 4. each gang being moved bodily sidewise, .as shown in .F ig14, andithe lateral.shiftingof .thqfgangs being always ina direction opposite;

machine shown. andldescrib edisflad apted to follow the rows, the lateral shifting of the cultivatorsgangs bringing them over quickly when a sudden deflectioninatheurows 'isene countered, and the skewingbf. the .wheels 4 helpingthe situation by shifting the-entire machine laterally. Thedriver willstraighten up the machine'as soon,as the. cultivator?" gangs are again in correct'or proper relationf tothe rows, so'that the rows of cornwill be" properly cultivated, v It will be understood, of course, that the, f cultivator-gangs 15 can be of. any suitable known or approved character, such as those, ordinarily employed: for: cultivating corn or f for similar purposes. @The gangscan be ad? I justed laterally in the manner previouslyde i scribed, and it will be observed that theseg-j ment or. pivotedelement 32, through its conside of the centerpivot-14, sothat the seatrail 13 will always bejmidway between the 'twopairs of eultivator gangs. Although thetongues or poles 2 are rigid 1 with themain body-frame, it; will be .seen..-that the gang- 5 arches 16, whilebeing.adjustable laterally, are always at rightangles to said tongues, and are always parallel withlthe cross-bar of the main. body-frame, inasmuch as these gangarches have no skewingfmovementreli atively tothebody-frame; The variouspen-j dulum-rods 19 and 24, andthe gang-arches, 1.6, constitute the devices. for supporting the j front ends of the cultivator-gangs on the f body-frame, lIlCl,'fO1 connecting mettle; 1

vator-gangs ..to thebo'dy of the machine,

while the seat-rail 13 fand barj11 andfthe' T pivoted element 32 and-therods 30 consti-fl tutethe means which are connectedt-o said devices. to control the latter for the, purpose of shifting the gangs laterally and bodilyin the manner previouslydescribed. The

weight of the driver as previously explained. is sustained by the pendulum-rods 38 connected to the lower end portionsijof the gang-arches, so that the pendulum-rods] 19 and 24 and the weight. 'of'the gangs them selves. tend to counterbalance the weight-of the driver;

:As shown in;

i the drawings, "the 6 are preferablv disposed in such. position Y i' that the "vertical'steering axes of the ma chine are inclined backward. a distance,;sothat these axes, at the surface oftheground, are a little in advance of (the, point of con.

tact-between the vground a'nd 'theat'readjot each wheel. In ,this'way' the wheels have a; tendency toswin'g a1 'ound to normal posii ust *tion, after being skewed in either direction, as'a castor wheel tends to swing into line with the direction of travel. In this connection it will be seen that the pendulumrods 38 which support the front end of the -ga-ngs on the front end of the seatrail 13,

also have a tendency to swing back to normal position, after being swerved to one side. Consequently, after the. driver has swung the seat-ra1l-13 to one side, in order to dodge =;something on the ground, or in order to brought about tends to reduce the strain on v other parts and has other advantages which will be understood by those familiar with riding cultivators of this particular class.

In addition, by arranging the steering axes a little ahead of the point where the wheel rests on a level ground surface, it will be see'n 'that this brings the axes forward enough to pass through the point of greatest pressure on the wheels, when the machine is'traveling in soft ground form such case each wheelwill then travel against a bank of earth, and with the steering axes disposed at an angle in the manner shown, so that each axis enters a level ground surface a little in advance of a-vertic'al line passing throng-lithe hub of the wheel, the machine will stee'i or'turn to the right or left with less effort. Thus the machine not only has atendjency to restore itself ai'iton'iat ically to normal position, after being shifted to either side, by the lat'eralmovement of the seat, but is alsoniore easily handled and controlled.

Tliependiilum rods 19, it will be seen,

are pivoted at their upper and lowerends' ends when theyswingto one side or the other, but move freely to permit the lateral shifting of the gangs previously described;

-Also, with this arrangement, the twogang arches'16 are slidable toward and away from each other onthe bar 11, which latter.

is transversely disposed and movable endwise to control the steering wheels, as well as'to shift the gang arches laterally"when the seatis swungtoeither side; and with the, provision of the evener bar 36 prev ously inenti'oned, the weight of one gang arch tends to counterbalance the'other', and

the seat rail is in thisway connected to the swing about axes which are disposed sub- 7 stantially at right angles to the inclined plane in which all of said rods swing laterally.

In this way, the rods do not bind at their lower ends of the gang arches as wellas to their upper ends.

With I'the. construction shown and described, t will be observed that the seat rail 1.3, through the medium of the transverse 'bar 11, hasan upper connection to the upper ends of the two gang arches 16, and through the medium of the pendulum rods 38 is also connected to the lower ends of the two gang arches, and therefore to the front endsof the cultivator gangs. Each gang arch serves to space apart the two cultivator gangsconnected thereto, and through the medium of the gang arches the two pairs of forward end so connected that it exerts a cultivator gangs arep roperly spaced apart. The laterally swinging seat rail, therefore, has its substantial control over both the upper end and the lower end of each gang arch, and in this way the cultivator gangs themselves are easily controlled forthe purpose of causing each gang to move sidewise bodily when conditions or circumstances require.

/V hat I claim as my invention is;

1. A cultivating machine comprising wheels, a bodyframe supported by said wheel's a pole or tongue rigid with said body frame, a cultivator gang, devices to support the gang on the body frame, so that the gang 'may he I shifted bodily sidewise,

and controlling means'connected to the upper and lower ends of said devices to; shift the gang bodily toward either wheel.

2. A structure as specified claim 1, in

combination with a similar gang, said de vices including a gang-arch for the front ends of said gangs, and means to connect the lower end as well as the top of said arch to said controlling means, with penduluin rods on the body 'frame'to support said gang arch for sidewise movement an to maintain the gang-arch'at right angles to said tongue.

3. A cultivating machine comprising a main body frame, a tongue rigidqwith said bodyframe, wheels to support the body frame, a pair of'cultivator gangs between said wheels, a gang-arch having its" lower ends attached to the frontends of the cultivator gangs, pendulum rods supporting the gang-arch on the body frame, sothat the gang-arch can swing laterally to shift the cultivator gangs bodily sidewise, apivoted seat-rail, aseat on the rear end of said seatrail, and a pendulum connection between the Y lower end of the gang-arch and the front .end of the seat-rail, whereby lateral i'nove merit of the seat ra'il will shift'the gang either wheel.

4AA cultivating machine comprising a main body-frame," forwardly arch and cultivator gangsbodily toward] extending tongues rigid with said body-frameys'up-ff porting wheels, spindles to connect the wheels with the body-frame, so that the wheels are adapted to skewabout individual steering axes, arms extending forward a from said spindles, a connecting bar between said arms, a seat-rail pivoted on the body-frame, a seat on the rear end of said seat-rail, a gang-arch at the rear end ofeach tongue,'-pendulum-r0ds connecting the for-* ward'end of the'seat rail-with'fthe adja- .cent lower 'ends of the gang-arches, so that the gang-arches counterbalance the weight of' the driver, pendulum-rods f supporting I the gang arches on the main'body-frama-so that said arches "are adapted toswing bodily 'sidewise, and to' maintain each' gang-arch at right angles to its allotted tongue, mech l anism on said cross-barto='-adjustthedistance betweenthe gang-arches, andto connect the seat-rail 'with said cr0ss-bar,-,and cultivator-gangs havlngthelr forward ends connected to the loWerL-end'po'rtions of the gang-arches. l 9

"5. A cultivating machine comprising a pair of gang-arches, "cultivator-gangs -con nected to'said gang-arches, means to support sald gang arches, an element mounted to rotate about a vertically disposed axis,

links connecting the elementwith said gangv arches, so thatpartlal rotation of saidele ment will move; the gang-arches toward or away from each-other, means for locking said element in adjusted position, and means to shiftsaid-archesand elementand lln'ks bodily to shift the gangslaterally."

- 1 6.-A'cultivati-ng machine comprising a pivoted seat-rail, a seat on the rear endof said seat-rail, a 'pair; of gang-arches supported for lateral movement, "cultivatorgangs for said arches, a cross-bar on the forward end of said seat-rail, and pendu lum-rods connecting the opposite end portions of saidcross-bar with the lower ends ofthe gang-arches, so that lateral movement of the seat-rail about its pivot will swerve the gang-arches and their gangs bodily sidewise in either direction,

7.'A cultivating machine comprising 'a body frame supported by wheels, a pair of cultivator gangs, a gang-arch for the forward ends of said cultivator gangs, con

trolling means to shift the gang-arch bodily sidewise, means to connect said controlling means to the lowerend of said gang arch, front pendulum rods depending from the body frame to support the lower ends of the gang-arch and the front ends of the gangs on the body frame, and; rear pendulum rods mounted to swing laterally in an, inclined plane and extending downward and forward from axes on-the body frame to axes on the front ends of the gangs, to bracexthe lower ends, of the gang-arch against the backp ull of the cultivator gangs,

said axesall being at right angles tots aid 8. A structure'as specified 'in claiin1, and

inclined plane;

mechanism "connected to said mean to skew] ed laterally, said 'axe's being disposedatf'such,

that the line of each axis Willflbe'Siibstarij pressure on the wheelsfwhenthe cultivator is traveling 1n soft gro'und, I

tially coincident with i the point off gr'eatestl y 9 A" structureas-specified' nism to provide indlvid-ual steering axes for,

ground surface, and T means to connect {said seat-rail to normal position while the. culti vator is moving forward. 10.A structure asfspec ified'in claim 7,

said wheels abo'ut an, individual steering, axis for each: Wheel, when.the-gang 'isifsh ft-"jfi p .70 angles that the-line of each axis isfin 'ad- "vance'of the lowest point .of contact between a a c, I -"Gt; in comb nation with steering wheels, mechasaid controlling'means comprising a sea-t railfand pendulum rod "connection from V the forward end offthe seat-rail to thejcultivator gangs, adapted to causelthejseatQrail;a

after, being 'swun toene -side',tojreturn of v j w its own accord to f'no'rmal positions 11. A cultivating "machinecomprising, in combination, a" pivoted seat-rail, cultivator, gangs,. wheels to supportand steer "the "0111- tivator, and devices for connecting the seat railwith said wheels" and pendulum rods hung-on the seat rail and connected at "their lower endsto said gangs and thereby caus ing the seat rail :to return of its ownacco'rd position after being swung to f either-side.

12. A structure as specified in claim ll Y wheels, means to support sa id spindles to 5 to normal said devices comprising spindles for said turn about steering axes disposed at such, an

angle that-the'line' ofeach axis passes into the ground in advance of thelowest' point I K of contact between "each" wheel and theground, surface, and connections between the seat-railfand the; CultiVatOr-gangs -Z.

13. In a cultivator, the combination of steering wheels,jfcultivat0r gangs, a gan'gf arch, I mechanism including a-E transversely; arranged and endwise movable barfor con-5 7 trolling said wheels, means to connects'aid arch to said bar, so that endwise-movement' of the bar shifts the arch: and .the gangs" J I laterally, a ole or tongue, a" seatrail connected to said bar, pendulum rods hung-on '35 gang to movebodily' sidewise, a seat rail wheeled body frame,

theseat rail to control said gangs, a main frame rigid with said pole or tongue and supported by said wheels, pendulum rods to support the -gang-arch onsaid frame, and

a-pivot on'saidtframe forsaid seat-rail.

14. A, structureas specified in claim 13,

inv combination with a. similar gang-arch connected to said bar, gangs for said additional arch, and pendulum rods tosupport this arch on'the frame, said means being ad-v justable to slide the two arches toward and away *from each-other on said bar.

15. A structure as specified in'claim 13, and with the additional limitations of claim 14, in combination with-pendulum rods to connect the forward end of the seat rail with the lower portion 'ofsaid arches.

16. In, axcultivator, the combination o1"? cultivator gangs, a gang arch "for said gangs, a main frame, wheels for said frame, a seat rail pivoted on said "frame, and means ,including a pendulum roddepending from the seat rail to support the gang arch.

, -'l7.-Astru cture'as specified in claim l6,v

in combination with a-similar gang arch, ,Q'angsior the arch, means includinga pendulum rod depending from theseat rail to support the additional arch, and an evener bar on the end of the seat rail to support said rods and whereby one arch tends to 1counterbalance:the other.

18. In ajvcultivator, thecombination of a cultivator Y gangs, means to support the gangs on the body frame, having provisions topermit each pivoted to swing laterally on I the. body frame, and pendulum rods extending clownto control said gangs.

'ward from the forward end of the'seatrail 19. In a cultivator, a gang arch, cultivator gangs for said gang arch, a wheeled "body frame, a laterally swinging seat "rail, a connection betweenthe seat rail'and the upper end of the gang arch,,and-a connection between the seat rail and the lower end vof the gang arch. v I

20. Astructure as specified inclaim 19,

pin combination with devices ,controlledby the upper connection-between theseat rail and gang arch to control the wheels of the body frame.

21. In a cultivator, the combination of a I wheeled body frame, a pair of gang arches,

a pair. of cultivator gangs for each gang arch, a laterally swinging seatrail on lthe body frame, an upper connection between the seat rail and said gang arches, a connection from the seat rail to the lower end of one arch, a connection from the seat railto the lower end of the other gang 7 tance betweenone pair of cultivatorgangs and the other pair of cultivator gangs,

Signed by me at, Janesville, Wis, this 16th dayof April, 1918. a v,

a V ALVAROS. KROTZ.

A structure as specified in' c'laim 2l, i

'SIL 

